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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

DadAgain, don't forget that the recitals are held simply to share with others some things that we've spent our time working on - participation doesn't require one to have something shined and polished that's been playable at a competent level for some weeks or months (I can assure you this certainly isn't the case with my submission). We often lose sight of this and how the whole quarterly recital is but simply to share music and our personal love of it (as well as differing tastes) with one another.

BobpickleI appreciate that you say "recitals are held simply to share with others some things that we've spent our time working on - participation doesn't require one to have something shined and polished" [how do I get just a snippet of someone's post to copy into my own?]. The truth is for me that everyone DOES sound so good and so polished that I hesitate to put one up that isn't pretty close. I haven't posted the last two recitals and really need to get something in this time. WELL what am I doing sitting here gabbing when I could be practicing?

Go to their post and press the "Quote" button just under the post. You can also use the quote annotation directly, eg by using the "Switch to Full Reply Screen" button or typing the annotations directly.

Thanks Wouter. I've done that but get the whole post and sometimes I don't want the whole post. I've been just cutting out excess and wondered if I couldn't just highlight what I want and hit the magic button.

...While your attitude and hopefulness is commendable, you really have more important stuff to attend to than this silly recital.

Why add more stress to an already stressed situation?

Sometimes, having something to focus on besides the current situation is *just* what we need. Playing music is one activity that allows us to live 'in the moment' for a while and leave all the rest of lifes crap behind. If all I need to do is slap a camera in front of me and hit record I might get lucky and capture a particularly 'raw and emotive' performance! (I've noticed my mournful Chopin Nocturnes seem particularly powerful at the moment - I've even caught myself and the wife with tears pouring down our faces whilst I've played stuff lately).

Perhaps for recital I should find something less melancholic to play and try and revive some more joyous emotions?

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Parent....Orchestral Viola player (stictly amateur)....Hack Pianist.... (faded skills from glory days 20 yrs ago)Vague Guitar & Bass player.... (former minor income stream 15 yrs ago)Former conductor... (been a long time since I was set loose with a magic wand!)

"I've even caught myself and the wife with tears pouring down our faces whilst I've played stuff lately)."

You two need to talk. The pair of you do not want this. Do it.

DadAgain -- I'm reticent to think that a bunch of people on the internet who don't really know your situation can provide sound marital advice, but goodness gracious, it's hard not to reach Peter's conclusion just based on that one sentence. It's heartbreaking, truly.

That said... and agreeing with the sentiment that the recital can't possibly be all that important in the grand scheme of things right now... It may be cathartic, it may be a welcome distraction from the situation, and you just might capture something raw and real that is worth capturing.

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"...when you do practice properly, it seems to take no time at all. Just do it right five times or so, and then stop." -- JimF

There's an outside chance I can put together a rough recording of something just in time for 14th - but it'll be tough, last minute, out of tune and under-prepared.

While your attitude and hopefulness is commendable, you really have more important stuff to attend to than this silly recital.

Why add more stress to an already stressed situation?

Play when you can, for fun and stress relief. But get done what you need to get done while you have the time.

Amen to that, bruthuh! lol

I'd rather wait or play only once a year recital (like I did in 2012) than put up a regrettable performance.

"Play when you can" is my mantra these days...particularly, play when the mood strikes.

I'm happy to report that I'm playing again after a 2013 hiatus...I'm now deep in the throws of my 6th Joplin piece. I'll chalk it up to this - I'm an occasional player these days. Anyway have a great recital everyone! I can't wait to listen.

We've been holding at 38 for a few days now....I bet there will be more submissions flowing in over the weekend!

There are a great many really wonderful pieces in the program so far, I can't wait to get started with the listening!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Peyton - I see you're in with a piece called "After All", which you composed (described as "original") - can I safely assume that this is not the wonderful song that was a monster hit for the fine singer Al Jarreau some years back - or are you still collecting the royalties?

This is the song I mean:

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Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin

Maybe maybe it'll come together for a recording. I've missed the last two ecitals so I really wanted to do this one but sometimes I'm not plateauing I'm falling into the crevasse. Really enjoyed the master class at my university yesterday...maybe it will add that boost to my piano performance.

Well I'm very sick with cold this week. Currently fever has gone down but do not have any voice. I cancelled choir, performance class and piano lesson this week. But I got board so I decided to record today. I took a shot of whiskey, a couple of glasses of wine to make me feel better first. It's a sort of home remedy in my area I grew up. It's Japan but its a country side where a bunch of country bumpkins live. Anyway I recorded it but it sounds horrible. If you ever look at my YouTube video, it is horrifying as well. I will submit it any way. Being drunk has its benefit as well. I don't care small things like finess! I feel kind of bad for Brahms. Good thing he is not alive to hear mine. RIP Brahms.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

I must be doing something wrong. Its taking 1 hour to upload my video to YouTube. I do this so that I can change the format to mp3 on YouTube site. Am I doing it incorrectly? The video is taken using q3hd.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

I must be doing something wrong. Its taking 1 hour to upload my video to YouTube. I do this so that I can change the format to mp3 on YouTube site. Am I doing it incorrectly? The video is taken using q3hd.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

I don't know what is going on FarmGirl, but an hour to upload to Youtube sounds very wrong.

I am new to youtube, and didn't realize you could convert audio to mp3 on the site. I use AoA Audio Extractor. The basic-bare-bones program is downloadable for free, if you want bells and whistles you can pay for a premium version.

I hope you feel better soon - that sounds like a monster cold!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

I must be doing something wrong. Its taking 1 hour to upload my video to YouTube. I do this so that I can change the format to mp3 on YouTube site. Am I doing it incorrectly? The video is taken using q3hd.

Cheryl and Peyton I somehow managed to upload it:). I got a couple more shots of whisky in frustration. I think it was a darn nice thing. We don't have rum. I noticed a couple of hours later that I do have software called handy share provided by Zoom. Had I used it, it would not have taken as long as I did. I was upset noticing that YouTube does not provide "format" change service any more at first. But looking into my computer, I noticed that I had downloaded software for that long time ago. Anyway I recorded and it's there. I am not happy with it but it's done and over now. It would take me at least a couple of weeks to fix dynamics and sloppy execution.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

I think I might submit my low quality recording of a rachmaninoff prelude (again...a work in progress). I'm inspired by all the submissions and hopefully people will forgive me if my recording is poor sound-wise. I've had a flare of wrist pain the last couple of weeks and just haven't been able to redo it to get a better take (well I tried, but it wasn't any better so gave up).

Cheryl and Peyton I somehow managed to upload it:). I got a couple more shots of whisky in frustration. I think it was a darn nice thing. We don't have rum. I noticed a couple of hours later that I do have software called handy share provided by Zoom. Had I used it, it would not have taken as long as I did. I was upset noticing that YouTube does not provide "format" change service any more at first. But looking into my computer, I noticed that I had downloaded software for that long time ago. Anyway I recorded and it's there. I am not happy with it but it's done and over now. It would take me at least a couple of weeks to fix dynamics and sloppy execution.

I suspect this is better than you think! Why not try again stone cold sober though? You can then pick which you like best, even if you don't have that couple weeks you wish you had.

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"...when you do practice properly, it seems to take no time at all. Just do it right five times or so, and then stop." -- JimF